North American Literature II

Code:

MEAAM016

Acronym:

LNA2

Instance: 2013/2014 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Anglo-American Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Masters in Anglo-American Studies

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
EAAL	5	Course Programme	1	-	9	80	243
MEAA	14	Study Plan since 2007/2008	1	-	9	80	243

Teaching language

English

Objectives

The aim of this course is to help students become familiar with some of the most important American novelists of the 20th and 21st centuries. The study of the books included in the reading list will trace the formal and thematic developments of the novel in a specific period of American literature (1970-2000), focusing on fiction's engagement with history, on the tension between individual and collective identities, as well as on the importance of space and place in the representations of such conflicts. The programme will provide students with specific skills, theoretical information and conceptual tools that will enable them, at the end of the seminar, to have a critical understanding and a deep knowledge of some of the main trends of Contemporary American Literature.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

a) Gain a deep knowledge of the main trends in Contemporary American Literature;

b) Develop an ability to read some of the conntemporary fiction of the U.S.A, in relation to its historical and cultural contexts, in order to gain a richer understanding of both text and context;

c) Become aware of thematic developments in the works included in the reading list;

d) Develop the ability to read works of literary and cultural criticism, and deploy ideas and concepts from those texts in their own reading and writing;

e) Deepen the expertise of theorization and conceptualization in order to develop autonomous research and advance critical methodologies.

Working method

Presencial

Program

The course will center on the study of novels by Flannery O'Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth and Jonathan Safran Foer (see Main Bibliography). Students will be introduced to some of the great social, aesthetic and cultural movements in America, in a specific period of U.S. literary history marked by its plural and multifaceted character. The analysis of this diversity will be accompanied by the critical study of relevant texts, establishing a conceptual framework and a context for the discussion of the fiction of the above-mentioned authors.

Mandatory literature

Flannery O'Connor; Wise Blood, London: Faber &Faber, 2008 [1952]
Cormac McCarthy; Blood Meridian, London: Picador, 2007 [1985]
Philip Roth; The Human Stain, London: Vintage, 2005 [2000]
Jonathan Safran Foer; Everything Is Illuminated, New York: Penguin, 2003 [2002]

Teaching methods and learning activities

Fifteen weekly sessions on a seminar basis

keywords

Humanities > Literature > Literary criticism
Humanities > Literature > American literature

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	20,00
Trabalho escrito	80,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	35,00
Frequência das aulas	45,00
Trabalho de investigação	163,00
Total:	243,00

Eligibility for exams

Students must attend 75% of all seminar sessions

Calculation formula of final grade

Students will obtain a 'pass' or a 'fail' based on the following evaluation components: -Active participation in seminars -20%; - A written essay to be discussed at the end of the semester - 80%

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Not applicable

Classification improvement

Not applicable